Bidura House, 13 March 2010, by Adam, J.W.C., courtesy of Adam, J.W.C., Wikimedia Commons.
Details
Bidura Children's Court opened in April 1983, replacing the Metropolitan Children's Court at Albion Street. It is situated behind the historic house Bidura, which had been a shelter and receiving home until 1977. The court complex at Bidura included the Bidura Remand and Assessment Centre but this was found unsuitable as it provided little barrier to the many escapees and it now only holds in custody those appearing in court that day.
Bidura Children's Court continues to operate and holds records for the Metropolitan Children's Court.
People wishing to gain access to information from Bidura Children's Court must write to the Clerk of Bidura Children's Court:
In many instances, especially in the case of smaller Courts, the depositions of proceedings in Children's Courts are interfiled with the adult depositions. There are, however, several designated Children's Courts in NSW: Bidura Children's Court at Glebe (in Sydney's inner west); Cobham Children's Court at Werrington (in Sydney's far west); Worimi Children's Court at Broadmeadow (Newcastle); Minda Children's Court at Lidcombe (in Sydney's west); Campsie Children's Court at Campsie (in Sydney's south west); and Yasmar Children's Court at Haberfield (in Sydney's inner west).
Court records may also held by the State Records Authority of New South Wales. In 2014 there were no records listed in the Concise Guide to the State Archives relating to this organisation. Since the Guide was last updated it is possible that additional records have been deposited with the State Records Authority of New South Wales. In addition, records are still held by the Courts themselves. As all requests for information must be directed through the Clerk of the relevant Court, current information about holdings will be available from the Court.
1911 - 1983 Metropolitan Children's Court
1983 - Bidura Children's Court
Sources used to compile this entry: Lawlink, 'The Children's Court of New South Wales: Timeline of Major Events 1905-2011', in History of the Children's Court, Lawlink, Lawlink NSW, 2012, http://www.childrenscourt.justice.nsw.gov.au/Documents/History%20-%20Timeline%20of%20major%20events.pdf; Thinee, Kristy and Bradford, Tracy, Connecting Kin: Guide to Records, A guide to help people separated from their families search for their records [completed in 1998], New South Wales Department of Community Services, Sydney, New South Wales, 1998, https://clan.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/connectkin_guide.pdf.
Prepared by: Naomi Parry
Created: 27 April 2011, Last modified: 28 January 2015
Last updated: 18 January 2023
Cite this: https://www.findandconnect.gov.au/ref/nsw/biogs/NE00467b.htm
First published by the Find & Connect Web Resource Project for the Commonwealth of Australia, 2011
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